Those who’ve traveled to Lisbon find the similarities between Portugal’s capital and San Francisco uncanny. The bayside city is built on seven steep hills, just like San Francisco; it also has cable cars and a bright orange suspension bridge that looks nearly identical to the Golden Gate.

Santa Cruz winemaker Jeff Emery noticed those similarities, but what really made an impression on him was the wine. He was so enraptured that when he returned from Portugal, he started combing through classified ads on the Internet and found a few California growers selling varietals such as verdelho and tempranillo.

“They were either crazy enough or visionary enough to be working with these varieties,” he says.

One of those growers is Markus Bokisch, whose mother is from Spain. He spent two years working at wineries in Spain in the early 1990s. In 1999, he began growing Spanish and Portuguese varietals on 200 acres in Lodi, which has a similar climate to wine regions in Spain and Portugal.

He now grows eight different Iberian varietals, which he produces under his own label, Bokisch Vineyards, and sells to winemakers such as Emery.

After finding a source for the grapes, Emery launched the Quinta Cruz label in 2007. The name comes from the Portuguese tradition of calling vineyards “quintas” because one-fifth of their earnings go to taxes. Cruz is a tribute to Emery’s original label, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard.

In just five short years, the Quinta Cruz brand has begun outselling its long-established parent label. Of the approximately 5,000 cases Emery produces, a shade more than half bear the Quinta Cruz name.

Emery sells out of his popular tempranillo so quickly, he has doubled production every year to keep up with demand. His first release of albarino is poised to do equally as well. Fermented in stainless steel, the crisp, aromatic, fruit-driven wine just won “Best of Show” for white wine at the Santa Cruz County Fair.

A new generation of wine drinkers is helping fuel the growth in Portuguese varietals, according to Emery.

“The 30s-and-under crowd is driving the wine business right now. They’re looking for wines that are new and different because it holds a certain cultural cachet,” he says.

Other growers and producers are taking notice. Albarino and verdelho were two of the fastest growing varieties by acreage in California from 2007 to 2011; when combined, they make up fewer than 300 acres — a drop in the barrel compared to chardonnay’s nearly 100,000.

The Tempranillo Advocates Producers and Amigos Society (which goes by the irresistibly appropriate acronym TAPAS) is tapping into the growing thirst for these rare varietals by connecting producers and consumers through social media and other channels. TAPAS held its first tasting event in 2008 in Napa; about 200 people attended. In June, 2,000 wine lovers turned out to taste wines from more than 40 mostly small producers at the event, held at San Francisco’s Fort Mason.

The production of these Iberian varietals may not be the exclusive domain of boutique producers for long. Gallo recently bought some of Bokisch’s graciano fruit for a winemaking trial.

But Emery says he didn’t set out to be a disciple for Portuguese varietals.

“I just wanted to play with new and different flavors and varieties,” he says. “It’s a thrill to turn people on to them.”